Ghost in the Machine (album)
| recorded = January – September 1981 | studio = AIR Studios, Montserrat Le Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec | genre = }} | length = 41:03 | language = English, French | label = A&M – AMLK 63730 | producer = | prev_title = Zenyatta Mondatta | prev_year = 1980 | next_title = Synchronicity | next_year = 1983 | misc = }} Ghost in the Machine is the fourth studio album by English rock band The Police. The album was originally released on 2 October 1981 by A&M. The songs were recorded between January and September 1981 during sessions that took place at AIR Studios in Montserrat and Le Studio in Quebec, assisted by record producer Hugh Padgham. The album reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 2 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. The band released three successful singles from the album: "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Invisible Sun", and "Spirits in the Material World". However, the song "Secret Journey" was released as a single in the US in place of "Invisible Sun". The album went multi-platinum in the US. It was listed at No. 323 in the ''Rolling Stone'' 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Production and recording The album was the first Police record to feature heavy use of keyboards and horns. "Spirits in the Material World" has a rhythmic string synthesizer part, "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" uses piano arpeggios and "Invisible Sun" has a background of synthesizer chords. The following twenty minutes of the record—"Hungry for You (J'aurais Toujours Faim de Toi)" through "One World (Not Three)"—include many saxophone harmonies, while the opening to "Secret Journey" showcases the Roland Guitar Synthesizer. Sting included all the synthesizer parts in his demos for the songs, and brought in Jean Roussel for the piano parts on "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". The demo for "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was such a high-budget recording that the group could not better it with the equipment available at AIR Studios; they ended up using it as the backing track for the official recording, with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers dubbing their parts on. Sting also played all the saxophone parts on the album. Summers recollected: The LP opens with "Spirits in the Material World", featuring keyboards dubbed over Summers' reggae-inspired guitar licks. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" features piano, a strong Caribbean vibe, and an extended non-verbal vocal solo at the end. "Invisible Sun" is a mixture of slow, steady verses, a bombastic chorus, and several guitar solos. "Hungry For You (J'Aurais Toujours Faim de Toi)" is sung mostly in French, with the bass and horns both repeating a single 8-note melody for the length of the song, while the guitar maintains a steady beat. "Demolition Man", the band's longest song—almost six minutes in length—features a strong bass line and saxophone, and was written by Sting while staying at Peter O'Toole's Irish mansion. It became a belated hit in 1993 as the theme song for the action movie of the same title, starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes. Grace Jones and Sting have both recorded solo versions of the song. Manfred Mann's Earth Band also recorded a version—rearranged and with extensive use of synthesizers—in 1982 for their Somewhere in Afrika album. "Too Much Information", "Rehumanize Yourself" and "One World (Not Three)" feature heavy use of horns. As with "Landlord" and "Dead End Job", Copeland had written both music and lyrics for "Rehumanize Yourself" but Sting rejected the lyrics and replaced them with ones he wrote himself.Garbarini, Vic (Spring 2000). "I think if we came back ..." , Revolver. The final three songs, "Omegaman", "Secret Journey" and "Darkness", return to the darker sound which opens the album. Artwork and titling Much of the material in the album was inspired by Arthur Koestler's The Ghost in the Machine, which also provided the title. It was the first Police album to bear an English-language title. In his younger days Sting was an avid reader of Koestler. The subsequent Police album Synchronicity was inspired by Koestler's The Roots of Coincidence, which mentions Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity. The cover art for Ghost in the Machine features a sixteen-segment display-inspired graphic that depicts the heads of the three band members, each with a distinctive hair style (from left to right, Andy Summers, Sting with spiky hair, and Stewart Copeland with a fringe); the band was unable to decide on a photograph to use for the cover. Wire bonds can be seen on the original issue vinyl album cover, suggesting perhaps that the display is a photographic collage. The album's cover is ranked at No. 45 in VH1's 50 Greatest Album Covers. The graphic was designed by Mick Haggerty. Critical reception | rev2 = The Austin Chronicle | rev2score = | rev3 = Chicago Tribune | rev3score = | rev4 = Rolling Stone | rev4score = | rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide | rev5score = | rev6 = The Village Voice | rev6score = B+ }} The reception for Ghost in the Machine was mostly positive. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that "it's pointless to deny that they make the chops work for the common good—both their trickiness and their simplicity provide consistent pleasure here." Debra Rae Cohen of Rolling Stone noted that the band had showed "more commitment, more real anger, on Ghost in the Machine than ever before." Greg Prato of AllMusic, in a retrospective review of the album, wrote that the Police "had streamlined their sound to focus more on their pop side and less on their trademark reggae-rock." Prato went on to say that while it "was not a pop masterpiece, Ghost in the Machine did serve as an important stepping stone between their more direct early work and their more ambitious latter direction". In 2000 Q magazine placed Ghost in the Machine at number 76 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2012 the album was ranked number 323 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the band's highest-ranking work on the list. ''Pitchfork'' ranked it at number 86 in their list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s. Commercial performance "Omegaman" was chosen by A&M to be the first single from the album, but Sting refused to allow its release in single form.Summers, Andy (2006). One Train Later. New York: St. Martin's Press. . "Invisible Sun" was released as the first single (in the UK only) and was a great success, making it to No. 2The Police in the UK Charts , The Official Charts. even though the video was banned by the BBC for including footage of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Later "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" reached No. 3 in the US and No. 1 in Britain, and "Spirits in the Material World" made it to No. 11 in the US and No. 12 in the UK. Track listing | title1 = Spirits in the Material World | length1 = 2:59 | title2 = Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic | length2 = 4:22 | title3 = Invisible Sun | length3 = 3:44 | title4 = Hungry for You (J'aurais toujours faim de toi) | length4 = 2:52 | title5 = Demolition Man | length5 = 5:57 }} Personnel The Police *Sting – bass guitar, lead and backing vocals, double bass, keyboards, saxophone *Andy Summers – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards *Stewart Copeland – drums, backing vocals (5, 11), percussion, keyboards Guest musician *Jean Alain Roussel – arranger, keyboards (2) Production *The Police – production *Hugh Padgham – engineering *Ted Jensen – mastering (LP) *Dave Collins, Bob Ludwig – remastering *Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Mick Haggerty, Vartan – art direction *Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Mick Haggerty – design *Duane Michals – photography Singles Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications and sales }} }} Notes Category:1981 albums Category:A&M Records albums Category:Albums produced by Hugh Padgham Category:The Police albums